Little Julie
On her fiftieth birthday, Marie
rocks a baby
In her tiny apartment on the seventeenth floor
The same bright blue eyes and that soft little face
That looked up at Marie twenty-one years before
First the child started walking, then she started running
And she called from a pay-phone, ‘bout three weeks ago
She’d missed her last court date, was headed out somewhere
The police keep on asking, but Marie doesn’t know
Sleep little Julie, oh don’t you fear
There’ll be someone to watch as you grow year by year
There’ll be ice creams and sweet dreams and sunshine each day
When your new mama comes to take you away
All these pills for her heart make Marie feel so tired
There’s a lump in her stomach that the tests can’t explain
So she waits for the bus, and she waits for the doctor
He says “come back in three months, if you’re still in pain.”
Sleep little Julie, oh don’t you fear
There’ll be someone to watch as you grow year by year
There’ll be ice creams and sweet dreams and sunshine each day
When your new mama comes to take you away
It takes more than just love to look after a baby
With no health and no money, it’s hard to make plans
The worker explained, and Marie signed the papers
Now she’s rocking the cradle, but it’s out of her hands.
Sleep little Julie, oh don’t you fear
There’ll be someone to watch as you grow year by year
There’ll be ice creams and sweet dreams and sunshine each day
When your new mama comes to take you away
Sleep little Julie, oh don’t you fear
There’ll be someone to watch as you grow year by year
There’ll be ice creams and sweet dreams and sunshine each day
When your new mama comes to take you away
When your new mama comes to take you away
© Adi Sara Kreindler, 2009
Listen to this song on YouTube.